Christian Science services started in Victoria in January 1902 with the formation of a Society and Sunday School which met in the home of Samuel and Nancy Greenwood. In 1909 this group, consisting of 35 members bought a building site at 939 Pandora Avenue and built a small church there to plans by D.C. Frame. The members had the foresight the following year to purchase property on the corner of Pandora Avenue and Chambers Street for a new building.
Our church in 1920
Our church in 1940
Beautifully sited at Pandora and Chambers opposite Harris Green, this imposing landmark building was designed by architects George Foote Dunham & Carl Harding Wallwork of Portland, Oregon. The church’s design is based on the Pantheon in Rome: a domed building fronted by a porch resembling the façade of a Greco-Roman temple. The cornerstone of the church was laid on 21st November 1919 with only the Board of Directors, Building Committee and a few friends present. The first service in the new church was held on Sunday, 29th August 1920. A three-manual Casavant Freres pipe organ was installed in the church in 1927, and with 1659 pipes this instrument is considered one of the finest in Victoria. The church was dedicated free of debt on 17th October 1943. Two houses adjacent to the church were purchased in 1962 and demolished, providing space for a parking lot and also making possible the addition for an elevator to our second-floor auditorium. In 1979 the church building was designated as a heritage building by the City of Victoria.
